William Fitzwater Wray

William Fitzwater Wray (b. Hitchin, England, circa 1870, d. London, England, 16 December 1938) was one of the most widely read cycling journalists at the end of the 19th century and the first third of the 20th. He wrote in national newspapers in Britain and in cycling journals under the byline Kuklos. Through his writing ran the conviction that "on every real bicycle there is the unseen pennant of progress, the standard of democracy, (and) the banner of freedom." He also gave magic lantern shows, predecessor of slide shows, which were in demand in the 1920s and 1930s and to which cyclists rode "prodigious distances."

History

William Fitzwater Wray was the third son of the Rev Samuel Wray, a Methodist minister in Sacton, west of Beverley, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. His mother was Ann Fitzwater, of Laleham, Middlesex. He was educated at church boarding schools: the Kingswood School in Bath and Woodhouse Grove on the edge of Bradford. He did not share his father’s religious belief, however, writing in 1896: "While still at boarding-school I revolted from the orthodox Christianity (sub-section Dissent) into which I was born and brought up... So I have never been since (to Church), except to temples not made with hands".

William (marcha orientalis)

William (II) was the margrave (comes terminalis, "frontier count") of the March of Pannonia in the mid ninth century until his death on campaign against the Moravians in 871. In his day, the march orientalis corresponded to a front along the Danube from the Traungau to Szombathely and the Rába river and including the Vienna basin. It was a military frontier zone against Avaria.

William co-ruled the march with his brother Engelschalk I and both died on the same campaign. They were replaced by Aribo, but Engelschalk's son Engelschalk II led their heirs in rebellion against Aribo in what became known as the Wilhelminer War from 882 to 884. The "Wilhelminers" were descendants of William's father, William I.

Sources

MacLean, Simon. Kingship and Politics in the Late Ninth Century: Charles the Fat and the end of the Carolingian Empire. Cambridge University Press: 2003.

William (archbishop of Mainz)

On 17 December 954, he was appointed to the archbishopric of Mainz following the death of the rebellious former archbishop Frederick. William received confirmation from Pope Agapetus II and also the title of Apostolic Vicar of Germany, a title which made the archbishops of Mainz the pope's deputies in Germany and granted the archdiocese of Mainz the title of Holy See. From his father William also received the title of "Arch-Chaplain of the Empire."

Wray (lenses)

Wray (Optical Works) Ltd. was a British camera and lens manufacturer based in Ashgrove Road Bromley, Kent.

The company had a reputation for producing excellent quality lenses and durable quality cameras including models such as the Wrayflex. Many Wray lenses remain in use, especially in photographic enlargers.
Wray also made aerial reconnaissance lenses. Their 36" f/6.3 is particularly good but has some residual spherical aberration at full aperture. They also made a highly distortion-free 36" f/4 for mapping. This can only be used with an orange filter and orthochromatic film to avoid the residual secondary spectrum (chromatic aberration).